James Mease

James Mease (1771–1846)[1] was a prominent American scientist, horticulturist, and physician from Philadelphia who published the first known tomato-based ketchup recipe in 1812.[2]

Early life and education

Mease was born on August 11, 1771, the son of Philadelphians John and Esther (Miller) Mease. After receiving his bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1787, he continued in medical school there, receiving his M.D. in 1792. Early in his medical career, Mease published several articles, and he served as a surgeon for nine months during the War of 1812.[3]

Publications and collected writings
1843 silhouette of Dr. James Mease

Dr. Mease's published contributions to medical knowledge, however, were less significant than his contributions to several other fields. In addition to several medical works, Mease edited the well-received Domestic Encyclopedia (1803–04) and the two volume Archives of useful knowledge (1811–12), but he remains best known for this seminar 372-page volume, "The Picture of Philadelphia", and his 1807 Geological Account of the United States, which was among the earliest geological treatises by an American.

A numismatist, Mease published "Description of Some of the Medals Struck in Relation to Important Events in North America" in the Collections of the New York Historical Society (vol. 3, 1821). Many of his papers were read before the American Philosophical Society, to which he was elected in 1802 and of which he was an officer, 1824-1836. He was a founder and first vice-president of the Athenaeum of Philadelphia.

Mease's papers are today deposited in the Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library's History and Special Collections division at the University of California at Los Angeles.[4] There is also a collection of his writings at the Duke University David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library[5]

Ketchup innovation

Ketchup has been around the world for centuries, beginning in China. Mease's innovation was the addition of a tomato base, which has become the ubiquitous form of the condiment in the United States and Europe. His ketchup was probably was more in keeping with tomato sauce developed in England by Alexander Hunter and used by Maria Eliza Rundell in a cookbook that was published in Britain and America. He may have also been exposed to the sauce consumed by French Creole refugees from a war in Haiti.[6] His recipe involved spices and brandy, no sugar or vinegar.[7] He called tomatoes "Love Apples," the term used by the French.[8]

Family

On July 3, 1800, Dr. Mease married Sarah Butler, the daughter of South Carolina Senator, Pierce Butler. They had two sons, both of whom changed their surnames as adults to Butler in order to secure an inheritance. One of the sons, Pierce Butler, married the renowned stage actress, Frances Anne Kemble. James Mease died in Philadelphia on May 14, 1846, and was buried in the cemetery of Third Presbyterian Church.[9] He met Fanny Kemble in 1832, and they married in 1834.[10][11]

References
  1. FindAGrave.com - James Mease
  2. Pure Ketchup: A History of America's National Condiment, with Recipes by Andrew Smith, The Rise and Demise of Homemade Ketchup, p.19.
  3. "The lives of eminent Philadelphians, now deceased" by Henry Simpson (1859)
  4. FindAGrave.com - James Mease
  5. Guide to the James Mease papers, 1811-1842, Philadelphia - Guide to the Duke University Libraries
  6. Pure Ketchup: A History of America's National Condiment, with Recipes by Andrew Smith, The Rise and Demise of Homemade Ketchup, p.19.
  7. National Geographic - The Plate 4.21.2014
  8. Ketchup: A Saucy History Archived 2018-04-02 at the Wayback Machine - History.com
  9. Malcolm Bell Jr. (1 December 2004). Major Butler's Legacy: Five Generations of a Slaveholding Family. University of Georgia Press. p. 487. ISBN 978-0-8203-2395-4.
  10. Robert Bernard, Martin. "Kemble, Frances Anne". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/15318. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  11. Deirdre David (12 February 2013). Fanny Kemble: A Performed Life. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 97. ISBN 978-0-8122-0174-1.
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